Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts

Transcript

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.'"

You are listening to Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts. Today is March 2nd, 2026, Monday of the Second Week of Lent. Today we are joined by clinical psychologist Dr. Peter Malinoski, the co-founder and president of Souls and Hearts and host of our sister podcast, Interior Integration for Catholics.

Hello dear exiles. Dr. Peter here. It is good to be with you again. I am so glad that you can be here for this Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts episode. This is for Monday of the Second Week of lent, and I want to focus in on the Gospel. And the Gospel is short today, only three verses, so I'm going to read it in its entirety. "Jesus said to his disciples, 'be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing will be poured into your lap, for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.'" Okay, so let's break this down. Mercy, here. In a word, Jesus is advocating love, wants us to be loving to each other. And I want to bring this inside. Why? Because Saint Thomas Aquinas insists that the way that we love ourselves is the radix et forma, the root and form of the way we will love others. Anthony Flood, in his excellent book The Metaphysical Foundations of Love, brings this out so clearly, be merciful, be merciful. And it's really important that you exiles, many of whom have not yet experienced a felt sense of mercy, especially from your protectors, your your firefighters, your managers. It's really important that, when you have the opportunity, we work collaboratively, cooperatively inside and that you also show mercy.

So many times exiles can be so angry, so frustrated, so disappointed, and it all makes sense that you feel that way, given the burdens that you've carried. It's going to make it much easier for your managers to lighten up, relax, back, and soften if you can be merciful. That may feel like it's a lot to ask in the condition that you're in. I totally get that. But to know that God the Father, our primary father, is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. This is an important message, not just for the managers. This is an important message for all of our parts. Forgive and you will be forgiven. So many times, exiles may really have concerns, doubts, hesitations about forgiving, and we don't want any cheap forgiveness. I'll say that flat out. No cheap forgiveness, no just papering over things, but that we want to be able to forgive ourselves. Because if we can't forgive ourselves, we won't be able to forgive others very well. Again, the way that we treat ourselves, the way that we govern ourselves, that's the way we're going to interact with others. And what happens if we do this? Our Lord tells us give and gifts will be given to you. A good measure, packed together, shaken down, overflowing will be poured into your lap, for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. It is so much easier to see what's been perpetrated upon us than it is to see what we perpetrate upon others.

And that goes at a parts level as well, the way that we manage our impulses and desires and so forth. So, dear exiles, remember that when there is an opportunity to come into the light, when you do get a seat at the table, let's remember that the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. And so, so much hope in this. Our Lord our God wants to reach out to us. He does not want to violate our systems. He doesn't want to invade or intrude. That's why it can take some real time to get to the exiles, for that felt experience of God's love and mercy to come to us. Let's stay with this. Let's also, as exiles, let's cooperate with the process. Okay? Let's try to, as difficult as it might seem, let's not indulge in hatred and negative impulses and fantasies towards our managers, if that's possible, so that we can move forward as a more united system in the love of God. And why? So that like in Psalm 79, where it says, "let the prisoners' sign come before you, and with your great power, free those doomed to death." That includes our parts. We'll be as free as our most imprisoned part is. I want you managers to remember that, firefighters, also exiles, right? We're about as imprisoned as our most imprisoned parts. Thank you for being with me on this journey to greater interior integration. It's a much more ordered self-love to human formation.

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And we'll draw this to a close by invoking our patroness and our patrons. Our Lady, our Mother, Untier of Knots, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.